JPH0522765Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a cooling device for simultaneously or selectively cooling a plurality of product storage chambers, particularly to a cooling device used in a vending machine.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, for example, in a vending machine equipped with two product storage chambers, evaporators 3a and 3b are disposed in the product storage chambers 2a and 2b, respectively, as shown in FIG. One end of the evaporator 3a is connected to one end of a condenser 5a disposed in the unit chamber 4 via a capillary reach tube 8a, the other end of the condenser 5a is connected to the outlet side of the compressor 6a, and the other end of the evaporator 3a is connected to the outlet side of the compressor 6a. Machine 6
A cooling device corresponding to the product storage chamber 2a is configured by being connected to the entrance side of the storage chamber 2a. Similarly, evaporator 3b, capillary reach tube 8b, condenser 5b, compressor 6
b constitutes a cooling device corresponding to the product storage chamber 2b.

However, in the above case, the product storage rooms 2a and 2b
Since cooling devices are installed independently in each compartment, the number of cooling devices will increase as the number of product storage rooms increases. Two vending machines and two compressors are required, making the vending machine itself extremely expensive.

Therefore, a cooling device configured with one compressor 6 and one condenser 5, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, has been known for some time. In Fig. 5, 2a and 2b are product storage chambers, 3a and 3b are evaporators,
8a-8c are capillary reach tubes, 7a-7c
5 is an on-off valve, 5 is a condenser, 6 is a compressor, and 4 is a unit chamber. The evaporators 3a and 3b are selectively used by opening and closing the on-off valves 7a to 7c.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) By the way, in the cooling device shown in FIG. The outlet side of the condenser 5 and each of the on-off valves 7a to 7c are connected by a vessel.

In general, a flow divider is used to evenly distribute high-pressure liquid refrigerant to each branching pipe as necessary, but since the flow of high-pressure liquid refrigerant within the flow divider depends on the discharge pressure of the compressor, When a cooling device is installed in a vending machine, depending on the arrangement of the refrigerant pipes, the flow divider may be tilted, and the refrigerant may not flow evenly. Furthermore, even if the state of the refrigerant on the outlet side of the condenser 5 is theoretically saturated or supercooled, flash gas may be generated depending on the installation and operating conditions of the cooling device, resulting in a gas-liquid mixed state. It ends up. Therefore, only high-pressure liquid refrigerant cannot be supplied from the flow divider outlet to each pipe, and as a result, the flow of the refrigerant becomes irregular, and the original cooling capacity may not be obtained.

A conventional flow divider used in the cooling device shown in FIG. 5 is shown in FIG.

This flow divider 10 is a tubular body having one inlet 10a and three outlets 10b.
is fixed vertically, and a head is provided between the outlet side of the condenser 5 and the flow divider 10 so that the flow divider 10 is always filled with high-pressure liquid refrigerant. However, due to the structure and space of the vending machine unit, it is not possible to provide a sufficient head, and as mentioned above, the refrigerant does not flow evenly, and the flow of the refrigerant becomes irregular, making it impossible to obtain the original cooling capacity. .

Furthermore, when a single condenser has multiple evaporators (for example, the cooling system shown in Fig. 5), there are cases in which the multiple evaporators are operated simultaneously and cases in which the multiple evaporators are operated selectively. In this case, the refrigeration load changes significantly. Therefore, the amount of refrigerant charged is determined so that an appropriate refrigerating capacity can be obtained when multiple evaporators are operated simultaneously. However, when multiple evaporators are operated selectively, the refrigeration load decreases, resulting in overfilling of the refrigerant.As a result, liquid refrigerant accumulates in the condenser, making it impossible to obtain the required condensing and refrigeration capacity. There is a problem.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention includes a compressor, a plurality of evaporators arranged in a plurality of product storage chambers and connected in parallel, and an expansion means and an opening/closing means for these plurality of evaporators. A cooling device that is equipped with a condenser connected via a valve mechanism, and that controls this opening/closing valve mechanism to cool multiple product storage chambers simultaneously or selectively. The liquid refrigerant is evenly distributed to a plurality of evaporators via the above-mentioned expansion means,
Moreover, the cooling device is characterized in that a flow divider having a liquid pool function to cope with fluctuations in the refrigerant is provided on the outlet side of the condenser.

(Example) The present invention will be explained below with reference to the example.

First, referring to FIG. 3, the vending machine housing 1 has two product storage chambers 2a, 2b and a unit chamber 4 provided below the product storage chambers 2a, 2b. An evaporator 3a and a blower 3a' are arranged in the product storage chamber 2a, and an evaporator 3b and a blower 3b' are arranged in the product storage chamber 2b. On the other hand, the unit chamber 4 is provided with a blower 5' and a compressor 6 corresponding to the condenser 5. As shown in FIG. 5, the cooling device is constructed by connecting the pipes.

Now, with reference to FIG. 1, the flow divider of the present invention disposed at the branch point P shown in FIG. 5 will be described.

The flow divider 9 is formed into a substantially cylindrical shape and includes a condenser outlet connection portion 9a, a liquid receiving portion 9b, and a branch portion 9c. These outlet connection part 9a, liquid receiving part 9b,
and the branch portion 9c are integrally molded. The high-pressure liquid refrigerant from the condenser enters the liquid receiver 9b through the condenser outlet connection 9a. Even if the high-pressure liquid refrigerant in a gas-liquid mixed state flows into the liquid receiving part 9b,
Since the liquid refrigerant is divided into two parts downward and the gas refrigerant is divided into two parts, the high-pressure liquid refrigerant is always supplied to the branch part 9c, and the high-pressure liquid refrigerant is divided here.

On the other hand, in the liquid receiving part 9b, the internal volume of the refrigerant circuit is expanded, and the simultaneous operation of the evaporators 3a and 3b (cooling of the product storage chambers 2a and 2b) is changed to
Operation of either one of b (product storage rooms 2a, 2b
(cooling of either one of them), excess refrigerant can be absorbed by the liquid pool effect of the liquid receiving part 9b.

Furthermore, by constantly storing a predetermined amount of liquid refrigerant in the liquid receiving part 9b, the flow divider 9 is tilted until the liquid level end of the liquid refrigerant reaches one side of the branch part 9c, as shown in FIG. Even if the refrigerant is tilted (based on the inclination angle (θ) and the vertical direction), high-pressure liquid refrigerant can always be supplied to the branch portion 9c. That is, if this flow divider 9 is used, it becomes possible to arrange it in a vending machine at an angle, and as a result, it becomes easy to set the piping path when installing the cooling device, which has the advantage that the work of assembling the cooling device becomes easy. There is.

(Effects of the invention) As explained above, according to the cooling device of the invention, a stable refrigerant diversion effect can always be obtained without being affected by fluctuations in refrigeration load, operating conditions, and installation conditions, and the required refrigeration capacity can be maintained. Obtainable.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the flow divider according to the present invention, Figure 2 is a diagram showing the state of the refrigerant liquid level when the flow divider shown in Figure 1 is tilted, and Figure 3 is a diagram showing a vending machine. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a refrigerant circuit of a conventional cooling device. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a refrigerant circuit of a cooling device. FIG. 6 is an example of a conventional flow divider. FIG. 1...Vending machine housing, 2...Product storage room, 3
...Evaporator, 4...Unit chamber, 5...Condenser,
6...Compressor, 7a-7c...Opening/closing valve, 8a-8
c... Capillary reach tube, 9... Flow divider.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] It has a compressor, a plurality of evaporators disposed in each of the plurality of product storage chambers, and a condenser connected to the plurality of evaporators via an expansion means, and the evaporators are arranged in parallel with each other. a flow divider connected to the outlet side of the condenser to divide the high-pressure liquid refrigerant from the condenser into a plurality of streams; a valve mechanism for regulating the flow of refrigerant from the container to the evaporator to simultaneously or selectively cool the product storage chamber; It includes an input pipe part and a liquid receiving part disposed between the output pipe, the input pipe part being attached to one end of the liquid receiving part and extending only outward, and the output pipe part being connected to the liquid receiving part. A cooling device that is attached to the other end of the liquid section and extends only outward, and wherein the input pipe section, the output pipe section, and the liquid receiving section are integrally molded.